Draft-yoke for railway-car draft-rigging



v G. A. JOHNSON.

DRAFT ,YOKE FOR RAILWAY CAR DRAFT RIGGING.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 25. 1916.

1,303,909. Patented May 20, 1919.

I N V EN TOR. WITNESS Q ES Geargefifikwa/z ATTORNEY m: NORRIS PETERS m, Puurmumm, wnsmucron n. c.

ITE s'rAr s PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. iIoHNsoN, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM H. MINER, F

GHAZY, NEW YORK. 4

DRAFT-YOKE FO R RAILWAY-CAR DRAFT-RIGGING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 20, 1919.

Application filed October 25, 1916. Serial No. 127,523.

Railway-Gar Draft-Rigging, of which the followingis a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification. a v

My invention relates to improvements 1n draft yokes for railway car draft rigging.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a draft yoke of efficientconstructionthat will readily adapt itself to the lateral swinging 01" the draw bar when a train is roundin curves upon a railroad track. Other objects will appearfrom the description hereinafter following.

In the, drawings forming a part'of this specification, Figure l is a top planview of a draft yoke embodying my invention illustrated in association with adjacent parts which are shown partly in horizontal section. I a.

Fig. 2 is aside elevation; and

"Fig. ,3 is a cross section taken on line 33-of.Fig. 2.

Referring to'the drawings, the numeral 4 indicates the draftmembers or parts of the car frame to which the draft rigging is applied. A stop member-:5 issecured to the inner face of each vdraft member, the said stop members being each provided'with the front stop shoulders 6, the front limiting stop shoulder 77, the front intermediate stop shoulder -8, therear intermediate stop shoulder 9, the rear limiting stop shoulders 1010 and the rear stop shoulder 11.

Mounted between the stop members are the frontrfollower 111, the front intermediate follower 12, the rear intermediate follower 13, and the: rear follower. 14, The draft rigging shown is of the tandem type andis provided with the front springs mounted between the front follower 111 and the front intermediate. follower '12 and the rear spring 16 mounted between the rear intermediate follower=13 and the rear follower 14. I 7 V The draft yoke 17 surrounds the springs and followers commonly known as shock absorbing members and-at its forward end is connected to draw bar 18, which is of a usual type having the upper and: lower shoulders 19 and 20' respectively and: provided with the vertical rivetholes 2l and 22. The draft yoke 17 comprises a pair of counterpart loops 234-23, in parallel- .ar-" rangement, each of said loops having an upper limb 24, a lower limb 25,. the upper limb 24 having at its forward end adownturned gib 26 to engage-the upper shoulder 19 of the draw bar and the lower'limb having anup-turnedgib 27 to engage th lower shoulder 20 of the draw bar. I

Near their forward ends the upperand lower limbs ofthe member 23areconnected by a preferably integral laterali plate 28' and said limbs are provided: with-ventically extending, preferably integraflugs 29, having. a convex front face 30-andxa convex rearface 31; the lugs 29, the upper and thelower limbs and the-lateral plates 28" of:thetwo nected by the 7 preferablyintegral spacedapart'front and rear upright posts 32 and 33 respectively.-. i, V

A front-yoke pocket 34 is formed in'the front". portion of the yoke and spring pocket 35 is formed in therear portion of the yoke, eachmto receive a set of shock absorbing members. The yoke'17 is pro vided with a central thimble or connecting member, which extends transversely 'be'. tween-the two members 23 and is-swingingly or movably connected to each of-said members 23 by suitable means as,- for" instance, apin 37 passing through perform tions 38 and 39 in the upper and lower limbs 24 and 25 respectively of the member 23 and through a suitable perforation 40in the thimble. Thus. the thimble' of the yoke is mounted in the pocket 41 formed between the posts 32 and 33 and is movablyconnected to each of the members 23'of the yoke 17. The faces 42 42 of the posts 32 and 33 adjacent the thimble, are convex as indi-' cated at the numerals 43 in Fig. 1 of the drawings. a r The rear ends of the members 23 0f the yoke are connected by the upper: and lower transverse plates or connecting members 44- 44, which are movably secured at their ends I middle toward both ends to to the members 23 by suitable means as, for instance, the pins' 4l5-4.-5 which are passed through perforations 4:6 in the said plates and through perforated lugs t'? at the ends of the limbs 2a and 25 of each of the yoke members 23. i

At its forward end the yoke is provided with upper and lower transverse plates or connecting members 418 and 4.9. respectively, the said plates being movably connected to each of the members 23 by suitable means, as, for instance, the pins or rivets 50 which are extended through the upper and lower yoke limbs of each member23 and which are connected to the draw bar by suitable means, as, for instance, the pin 51 passing through a'central perforation 52 in the transverse plate 49 and through one of the vertical rivet holes in the draw bar, as, for instance, the front rivet hole 21.

The stop members 55 are provided with flanges 5555 which are tapered from the middle of the casting toward the forward end to permit the lateral swinging of the yoke. The rear portions of said flanges are substantially straight; that is, the edge of the flange upon one stop member is substantially parallel with the edge of the flange upon the other stop member and the upper and lower limbs 2a and 25 of each member 23 are, at their outer edges,tapered from the permit the lateral swinging of the yoke.

In the drawings, having particular reference to Fig. 1, the yoke is shown in its normal position parallel to the axis of the car. On forward movement of the draw bar the yoke is drawn forwardly through the engagement of the gibs thereof against the draw bar shoulders. It will be observed that the two members'of the yoke 2323 may be placed one on either side of the draw bar, in assembling the draw bar and yoke, and the said members 23 are held against lateral displacement by the plates 48. On rearward movement of the draw. bar the pressure thereof is transmitted through the vertical lugs 29 to the front follower of the front compression resisting member, and through the yoke and the thimble thereof to therear intermediate follower of the rear compression resisting member. This action and the action of the compression resisting parts upon movements of the yoke will be readily understood. On lateral swinging of the draw bar, the yoke will swing laterally, this being permitted by the conformation of the flanges of the stop members and the conformation of the outer edges of the limbs of the yoke as hereinbefore described, and upon such movement the relative action of the two members 23-23 will permit the parts of the yoke bearing against the followers-that is, the lugs 29, the intermediate posts 32 and 33 and the rear post 91in either forward or rearward movement of'the yoke, to be substantially at right angles to the axis of the car and thus insure a direct application of force to the followers without the eccentric pull of the yoke thereon hereto-- fore existent in railroad draft rigging yoke structures.

This desirable object is not only accomplished by the movable connection between the two parts 23 of the yoke, but is also further assured by the'convex conformation of the bearing surfaces of the front vertical lugs 29, the bearing surfaces of the intermediate posts 32 and 33, and the convex bearing faces (SO-60 of the rear posts 91. s

Further, by reason of the rearward taper of the yoke, the same will'accomm'odate itself to the necessary lateralmovement consequent upon the lateral movement of the draw bar in association with the strengthening flanges upon the stop memberswhich have their edges parallel and thus reinforce the stop members at their rear ends to a maximum distance from the draft members or sills 4. 7

By this construction I am enabled to provide a stop casting in which the rear stop shoulders, as will be clear from an examination of Fig. 1, are of great depth and substantially the same depth as are the middle stop shoulders. The tandem castings shown, therefore, are castings having front, rear'and middle main stops, which as a whole for convenience I designate as61, 62 and 63, respectively, the middle and rear stops being of substantially the same depth and of a greater depth than the front stops.

The members 23 23 of the yoke are spaced apart to permit its swinging movement in order that the connecting members comprising the front and rear plates and the intermediate thimble which, for convenience, may be designated links, to maintain their position substantially at right angles to the axis of the car on lateral movement of the yoke in either direction.

What I claim is 1. In a draft rigging for railway cars, in combination, a draw bar, a yoke secured to said draw bar, the yoke having a pair of loops, plates pivoted at their ends to said loops, and a pin passing through said plates and through the draw bar.

2. In a tandem draft rigging, a draft yoke comprising a pair ofloops and having an pivotally connected to posts, the thimble passing at its ends between said posts, the sald thimble being movably secured to said loops.

4:. As an article of manufacture, a yoke for railway draft riggings comprising, tWo loop elements arranged side by side, each of said elements having intermediate and end Vertically extending posts, and means pivotally connecting said 100p elements at their rear ends thereby adapting one element to shift longitudinally with respect to the other element.

5. As an article of manufacture, a yoke for railway draft riggings, said yoke comprising tWo loop elements arranged side by side, and a thimble extending between said elements near their centers, said thimble being pivotally connected to each of said elements and thereby adapting said elements to 15 shift longitudinally with respect to each other.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 23rd day of Oct. 1916.

GEORGE A. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

GOLDIE A. BISHOP, CLAIRE M. CUNNINGHAM.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

